Moana to be the face of Womad 2018
Moana Te Ua first experienced a Womad festival from the comfort of a pram - now she’s fronting the popular event.
The 16-year-old Oakura girl has been announced the face of Womad NZ 2018, which will see her image plastered over marketing material for the three-day celebration of music, art and dance.
The Year 11 student at New Plymouth Girls’ High was one of ten finalists put forward for public voting. She took out the inaugural Facebook competition with 723 likes, while the runner-up, a young boy named Nikau, received 545.
Moana has been attending Womad since the age of four with her parents and hasn’t missed a year since.
‘‘I think it’s pretty unbelievable to be the face of a festival,’’ she said. ‘‘My friends and I have looked forward to it every year and now I’m part of it - it’s very exciting.’’
The idea to use a face with an overlay of the Womad lion came from Che Rogers, the graphic designer at the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (Taft), the organisation that runs Womad New Zealand.
This year was the first Taft had run a competition to find the face.
In the past the organisation had used stock photos, but this time around it put a call out to the nation and received about 60 entries.
Moana currently works parttime at the Peeking Panda restaurant in Oakura and aspires to be a marine biologist.
‘‘Being a dancer myself I love getting right up the front, dancing with randoms and just being in your own world.’’
Taft chief executive Suzanne Porter said Moana was exactly what they were looking for. ‘‘She’s an absolutely fabulous fit.’’
Porter said it was great Moana was a local, but that was not a prerequisite to the competition.
Womad NZ 2018 is on from March 16 to 18.